Friday, March 24, 2017

The Roman Legion – Structure

Roman legionnaires were the quintessential fighting machines
of their time, a perfect amalgam of courage, discipline, and athletic ability. Consider
marching over 20 miles a day with heavy armor, swimming across rivers,
constructing bridges and roads, and waging war. In other words, each legionnaire
was an intrepid decathlete meets MacGyver, which kind of explains Roman
dominance. Still, the Empire’s success on the battlefields was not simply
founded on elite soldiers but on sound tactics which optimized their
effectiveness. For many years, the Roman army used the tried and
trusted Greek phalanx formation, which was effective till enemies evolved into
faster, more mobile units. The Romans duly adapted and organized their army
into the following groups.

Velites: The Velites
were the youngest and the most inexperienced soldiers, who were also the
poorest to serve in the Roman army. Their name is derived from the light pilum
or hasta velitaris which they carried. The Velites were used for initial
skirmishes. Usually, their job was to
throw their pilums at the enemy and retreat to the back to be replaced by the
first line of heavy infantry – the Hastati.

Hastati: The Hastati,
like the Velites, were made up of young individuals who just happened to be
wealthier and could afford the classic Roman armor. They carried the traditional pilum and the
short Roman sword, the gladius.
The Hastati wore helmets adorned with plumes that reached a foot and a half in
height, which made them look bigger and more intimidating. They were the first
to meet the enemy in melee combat and if things didn’t go to plan, they fell
back and let the crème de la crème of the infantry, the Principes, strut their
stuff.

Principes: These
soldiers were, age-wise and in physical terms, at the peak of their powers. They
considered it their obligation to give victory to the Roman army. The Principes
were wealthier than the Hastati and, at times, wore better armor. They would
initially interchange with the Hastati, giving the latter much needed breaks,
before engaging in earnest battle. Most importantly, this group could fight.

Triarii: The oldest and the most experienced soldiers
made up the Triarii. They wore armor similar to the Hastati and Principes but had
a somewhat different role. They were the Roman army’s last resort and would only
get involved if the heavy infantry met with resistance. The Triarii charged the
enemy with phalanx style spears and this shock attack usually allowed the Hastati
and Principes time to regroup.

Cavalry: The
primary function of the Roman cavalry was to ensure that the infantry was not
outflanked. Also, they were in charge of hunting down enemies who fled from the
battlefield. It is interesting to note that the Romans, for all their skills,
were not the greatest on horseback and so the cavalry included a fair number of
African and Gaul mercenaries.